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“You did it!” I exclaimed, and Rycon smirked.
“Yeah, I guess I did.” He said, examining the wooden box. “What do we do with it now? I don’t see where it opens.”
Dossidian drew one of his sabers again, grinning.
“Let’s smash it,” he suggested, and I rolled my eyes, but bit back a laugh.
“Yeah, because that went so well last time,” I teased.
Amon chuckled. “Let’s take it back to court with us and see if we can figure out what to do next. Maybe it has something to do with The Lens that Conrad has,” he reasoned.
I nodded. “Agree.”
“Will you stay for the ceremony before you go?” Rhyalla asked, taking K’yen’s hand.
K’yen frowned. “Will our Rhoan be leaving with the daemons?”
I froze. I hadn’t thought of that. I guess after all the fuss Rycon had just made about keeping his title, he would likely want to stay with his people. We all turned and looked at him, as he examined the wooden box.
Finally, he looked up at us, and I could tell he was thinking it over. I tried not to smile, as I realized he was taking the time to consider his options, in an effort to make the right decision. Look at that. Rycon, using his head.
“We need to talk,” Rycon said to K’yen. “I’m not sure how much Rhyalla told you, but there’s some fucked up shit going on beyond The Veil. It needs to be dealt with or none of us will be safe.”
K’yen cocked his head to the side, indicating that he was listening. Rycon told him about the slavery bonds and how Ash Nevra had taken over the Dominion of Sin.
“That is… concerning,” K’yen said carefully when Rycon was finished. Rycon nodded.
“I have already signed a blood oath, promising I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize this mission. Considering the fact that I’m trying this new thing where I don’t fuck my friends and family over, I think I need to see this through.” He smirked at me.
“And let’s be serious, without me, you guys would be helpless. I’m not interested in suffering that painful and untimely death Kasha promised me if I bail now.”
I thought K’yen might scowl or make a comment about how Rycon was abandoning his people, but he nodded, pulling Rhyalla in close to him.
“I think that is a wise choice,” he said, and Rycon looked taken aback by the praise.
“That being said, someone will need to run the show while I’m gone,” Rycon smirked at his sister and soon to be brother-in-law. “Know anyone who has experience running a leap?”
Rhyalla beamed at him and looked over her shoulder at K’yen.
“I think I might have someone in mind,” she replied, kissing her mate on the cheek.
We all agreed to stay for the ceremony before heading back to Court. Rhyalla was beautiful as ever, in a crown of white orchids and a breezy linen dress that floated around her as she moved. K’yen, still shirtless, had swapped his animal hide pants for white linen. He wore a belt made of twined leather, laced with feathers and wooden beads.
They stood before each other under the arch that the females of the community had been building when we first arrived. The couple exchanged what looked like delicately carved rib bones from some kind of animal before kissing each other.
‘What do the bones mean?” I whispered, and Amon leaned in close as we watched.
“Shifters exchange bones when they are mated. It is usually a rib bone of an animal they have hunted together, as the rib cage is where the heart resides. They carve the bones with symbols that they feel best represents their partners. They are usually worn as jewelry afterwards, as a symbol to others that they are mated for life.”
“That’s beautiful,” I said, watching Rhyalla smile up at her mate. “What do daemon’s do when they are mated?” I asked. Amon smiled at me.
“We exchange mating stones. It is usually two halves on the same stone. We fashion them into rings, or necklaces, so that we may wear them too.”
“Do daemons mate for life?” I asked, as K’yen led Rhyalla away from the arch, and shifters began to shower them with flowers.
“Much like humans, it depends,” he said, “Though, if you find your true life mate, it usually is very… intense, and a life-long commitment. When The Origin created us, he made us so that we are each half of one whole. Our souls are not complete, until we find the other half. Many daemons never find their true mates. Some die before the other is born, some are just born in different courts and never cross paths. However, once we do find and mate with our other half, it is forever.
“Some believe, our true mates are sometimes born as magick folk, humans, or shifters. Many stories say that Elvira was The Origin’s life mate. That is why he risked everything, to make her his Queen, despite the backlash from his courts.”
